Internal Migration Determinants: Evidence from Northern Region of Ghana

Abstract

Studies of migration in Ghana – exploring the determinants is not new and date back to the 1960s. However, recent empirical evidence has focused on analysing the determinants of international migration. The study of internal migration have been somewhat neglected when in fact, it constitutes a very important policy area. Apart from the existence of very few empirical studies exploring the determinants of migration using econometric approach, results from such studies give mixed findings. The current study adds to the Ghanaian literature by offering a novel empirical assessment of the socio-economic characteristics of Ghanaian migrants and the determinants of internal migration using a recently collected data by the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, Legon for analysis. The main reason cited for migrating from the Northern region is economic. Using probit regression, it was noted that migrants are more likely to come from households with male heads. Furthermore, access to community facilities (electricity, pipe-born water) reduces the likelihood of households producing migrants. Migrant networks were also found to be a key facilitating element in the migration of people from the study area. In light of this, one can therefore conclude that the network theory explains migration in the Northern Region.